CreatingSFF podcast

Sci-fi graphics specialist – Anthony Ur interview

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Anthony Ur is a graphics designer supporting the military but spends his free time helping design graphics and special effects for an independent science fiction show, Dark Operations: Terminus. I interviewed Anthony at Far Point 2018.

1:16 – The graphics designer for Dark Operations Terminus tells me how he works on the project. He’s been an art director for the US Army in using graphics for training.

3:01 – Anthony is an avid gamer which inspires his work. He played a lot of Dungeons and Dragons and watched a lot of Star Trek.

3:41 – His most important tools are Autodesk studio suite and the Unreal Game Engine for rendering. His Transformers toys around his office gets him into the right state of mind for his work.

5:21 – Anthony’s favorite element of graphic design is figuring out how to turn his 3D models into actual physical reproductions. Small items like laser pistols are printed in segments.

6:44 – He got into graphic design when he was working in Visual basic in high school. He saw another student working on computer animation and he went in that direction. He started in 3D and then got into art. He continues because it’s a passion. He thinks of his designs in an engineering way.

8:31 – Over time he’s learned to adjust to what a client wants rather than trying to push his vision of a design.

9:55 – Graphic design touches everything. Products and independent films all have elements of graphic design. Designers think about how an item will interact with people ergonomically.

11:01 – Cartoony sci-fi does not need to look realistic. But other sci-fi might need more believable looking technology.

11:52 – Animation inspires Anthony. Cartoon network has stuff that inspires him. Early stop motion films inspire him. Disney animation quality inspires him. Pen and paper work can provide very good animation compared to digital.

13:06 – He likes to read quantum theory and quantum mechanics. He also loves LOTR and wanted to do Hollywood videos. Music from sci-fi shows and movies inspire him. Howard Shore for example.

15:01 – Some older games can grab him more than newer games. People focus a lot on multi-player but he likes more of the single player. Puzzle Quest is one game he loves.

16:09 – He was fascinated with the Nightcrawler power to teleport. Techie-wise he’d be interested in having a bionic part.   He’d also like to create a game where someone terminally ill could go into this game and forget about their problems while they’re inside. He’d also like create a game where people might not even know they’re in a game.

18:51 Dark Operation Terminus is on facebook. His work is also on Nextgenimaging.com

Links

https://www.facebook.com/DarkOperations/

http://www.nextgenimaging.com/

 

For more “Creating Sci-Fi and Fantasy – An Inside Look” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi

 

Guests: Anthony Ur

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: science fiction, sci-fi, graphics design, 3d, 3d printing, puzzle quest, video games, spaceships, transformers, howard shore

Sci-fi author Peter David interview – Far Point 2018 – youtube

Peter David has been a professional writer for over 30 years. He’s written novels, comic books, television, video games and so on. He wrote Incredible Hulk for 12 years and has written both DC and Marvel comics. He’s written numerous Star Trek novels and comic books. I was able to interview him at Far Point 2018. He has a website and is on twitter and facebook.

1:26 – Peter David has been working on the third book in the Hidden Earth trilogy and it’s taken a while so he hopes fans like it. He’s also writing the Scarlet Spider for Marvel Comics and a Battlestar Galactica 6 issue limited series where the original crew meets the crew from the new series.

2:36 – He liked the Fallen Angel comic book series. He likes his Atlantis chronicles and his Hulk work. However, he’ll look at his past work and still find things he doesn’t like. He finds things he doesn’t think he did correctly.

5:20 – People often ask what inspires him. He says what he makes from his work inspires him. But he also has too much in his brain to not be a writer. It’s an addiction and obsession. Ideas come to writers ferociously and with clarity.

7:16 – Fan interaction is his favorite part of writing. The act itself is a very lonely business. He likes being told what fans like and don’t like.

8:11 – He started writing as a kid and kept going. His father was a reporter and he thought he might be a newspaperman. But instead he became a fiction writer. He reads a lot to get better at writing. For example, he didn’t like present tense writing until he saw Stephen King had done it.

11:20 – The writer should show society the ways it can be better. Science fiction might be the best way to do this. He enjoys the Orville because it shows the way things might be. The shows has gotten better with each episode.

13:33 – He enjoys Harlan Ellison, Neil Gaiman, Stan Lee. He uses other writers to reflect on his own work. The older masters provide good lesson but the newer writers inspire too with the new things they try.

14:51 – He doesn’t use science as the basis for his works but he makes sure his Star Trek novels have consistent science. For example he wanted to make Odo from Deep Space 9 maintain his mass when he changes shape.

16:31 – Mr. David likes movies and tv but he will critize them. For example Superman IV made him think that the UN would not be happy with Superman’s decision to get rid of nuclear weapons. It would be Superman against the world. They would get Lex Luthor to fight him. If he ever wrote Superman, that’s the story he would write.

18:46 – Mr. David talked to Dale Keown, his artist on Incredible Hulk, about predicting how movies will go. Writers can figure out how a story will go. Mr. David figured out how Tango and Cash would go after watching for 30 minutes. The most recent Star Wars film fooled him though when Luke showed up for the final battle in the way he did. He also predicted Sixth Sense after the first two minutes.

22:16 – He would love to teleport. He’d like to be like Nightcrawler.

 

Links

https://www.peterdavid.net/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Orville

 

For more “Creating Sci-Fi and Fantasy – An Inside Look” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi

 

Guests: Peter David

Host: Cris Alvarez

 

Sci-fi author Peter David interview

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Peter David has been a professional writer for over 30 years. He’s written novels, comic books, television, video games and so on. He wrote Incredible Hulk for 12 years and has written both DC and Marvel comics. He’s written numerous Star Trek novels and comic books. I was able to interview him at Far Point 2018. He has a website and is on twitter and facebook.

1:26 – Peter David has been working on the third book in the Hidden Earth trilogy and it’s taken a while so he hopes fans like it. He’s also writing the Scarlet Spider for Marvel Comics and a Battlestar Galactica 6 issue limited series where the original crew meets the crew from the new series.

2:36 – He liked the Fallen Angel comic book series. He likes his Atlantis chronicles and his Hulk work. However, he’ll look at his past work and still find things he doesn’t like. He finds things he doesn’t think he did correctly.

5:20 – People often ask what inspires him. He says what he makes from his work inspires him. But he also has too much in his brain to not be a writer. It’s an addiction and obsession. Ideas come to writers ferociously and with clarity.

7:16 – Fan interaction is his favorite part of writing. The act itself is a very lonely business. He likes being told what fans like and don’t like.

8:11 – He started writing as a kid and kept going. His father was a reporter and he thought he might be a newspaperman. But instead he became a fiction writer. He reads a lot to get better at writing. For example, he didn’t like present tense writing until he saw Stephen King had done it.

11:20 – The writer should show society the ways it can be better. Science fiction might be the best way to do this. He enjoys the Orville because it shows the way things might be. The shows has gotten better with each episode.

13:33 – He enjoys Harlan Ellison, Neil Gaiman, Stan Lee. He uses other writers to reflect on his own work. The older masters provide good lesson but the newer writers inspire too with the new things they try.

14:51 – He doesn’t use science as the basis for his works but he makes sure his Star Trek novels have consistent science. For example he wanted to make Odo from Deep Space 9 maintain his mass when he changes shape.

16:31 – Mr. David likes movies and tv but he will criticize them. For example Superman IV made him think that the UN would not be happy with Superman’s decision to get rid of nuclear weapons. It would be Superman against the world. They would get Lex Luthor to fight him. If he ever wrote Superman, that’s the story he would write.

18:46 – Mr. David talked to Dale Keown, his artist on Incredible Hulk, about predicting how movies will go. Writers can figure out how a story will go. Mr. David figured out how Tango and Cash would go after watching for 30 minutes. The most recent Star Wars film fooled him though when Luke showed up for the final battle in the way he did. He also predicted Sixth Sense after the first two minutes.

22:16 – He would love to teleport. He’d like to be like Nightcrawler.

 

Links

https://www.peterdavid.net/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Orville

 

For more “Creating Sci-Fi and Fantasy – An Inside Look” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi

 

Guests: Peter David

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: writer, comic books, novels, hulk, incredible hulk, marvel comics, dc comics, spider-man, supergirl, star trek